Measure current directly?

[Nightskye 10+ year member]

You know, I've been wondering about this.

Is there a way to directly measure current flow from the alternator, instead of using the indirect voltage method for troubleshooting?

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[Nikuk 5,000+ posts]

Current output or current draw?

Yes there are many ways. Why?

A DMM / a clamp meter / Ohm's law / You name it...

-Nick

 

[Nightskye 10+ year member]

Current output or current draw?

Either. I guess I'm thinking like some kind of inline tester that will measure amps.

 

[Nikuk 5,000+ posts]

get an amp clamp. Clamp it onto the + wire from the alt, set it to Ampere's, read what the display says.

Easyest way that I know of.

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

Either. I guess I'm thinking like some kind of inline tester that will measure amps.

Umm... yes... it's called an ammeter (that's the correct spelling, not AMPmeter).

I have one that'll measure up to 60 amps. It goes in series with the alternator wire. Anything higher than that and you'll need to build it yourself from a shunt and a millivolt meter.

Current Shunts can be had from Simpson Electric:

http://www.simpsonelectric.com/accind.htm

If you had a shunt that was rated 100 mv at 100 amps, then each millivolt (.001v) would be an amp. Measure the voltage with your DMM on the lowest scale.